KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Umno Youth is backing the possible declaration of a state of emergency, with its chief suggesting a six-month period or until Covid-19 is contained.
Abdul Aziz Julkarnain, in a statement today, said this will act as a constitutional intervention to prevent more lives being lost should a general election be called.
“I suggest six months of the emergency order, or at least until Covid-19 subsides. Then, the government could consider dissolving Parliament, or not, to achieve political stability.”
He said Malaysia cannot afford another political turmoil, especially with the fresh coronavirus wave.
“The Perikatan Nasional government is struggling to maintain its power, and the Dewan Rakyat has received several no-confidence motions against the prime minister from both the government and opposition sides. Other than Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from Umno, another five MPs from Pejuang and 11 from Amanah have done so.
“Seeing this situation, nobody has a simple majority to form the government, and there is a possibility that Budget 2021 will not be passed due to the no-confidence vote.”
He said the Sabah election last month was a “mistake”, but added that “it gives a valuable lesson to the government that allowed it to take place when there was clearly a risk of Covid-19 spreading”.
The federal government, through the National Security Council, “should have done something then”, he said.
“Now, do we want to repeat the same mistake and put people’s lives at risk? We do not want to drag people into this prolonged political turmoil when there is a pandemic endangering people’s lives.”
Acknowledging that it would be an “unusual” approach, Aziz said an emergency declaration is nonetheless a good solution to the country’s health and political woes.
“It is also important to strike a balance between health and economic risks, based on the situation that we are facing now.” – The Vibes, October 24, 2020
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